Your 5 Fav Rock Concerts


There are certainly more than a few geetar fanciers among us judging by all the threads on guitar bands and best guitarist. This thread is about the best rock shows you saw. Let's limit it to the rock shows. Not Blues or Jazz or solo performers. The concerts that raised the hairs on your neck or made you want to take up an instrument or raised your pulse through their sheer energy or just moved you through their performance on stage. The only ones that count are the ones you've seen. After making a list in my mind of the many rock concerts I attended, most from the late 1960's through early 80's, I have come up with mine. It was tough, I’ve seen well over 200 rock concerts over the years and it is really hard coming up with a top 5 but we have to limit this so here go mine. "Yes" - This group stands out as the 2nd best concert I ever saw with Steve Howe and Chris Wakeman. They opened for Emerson, Lake and Palmer and after their set I do feel that EL&P were disheartened and knew they couldn't match it; they didn't. Funny thing is like most, I was there to see EL&P. They were forced to have another concert the following night by popular demand. Virtuoso musicianship, “Poco” - This group could put on a show. I saw them 4 different times in the many various stages of their evolution. They never had the commercial recognition of some of the other great bands of their era but they sure made up for it in their live performances. No one stayed seated during a Poco concert. “Rod Stewart and Faces” - Ron Wood on guitar and Rod Stewart strutting all over the stage. Rod was probably the greatest natural Rock showman I ever saw, including Mick Jagger. His uninhibited manner and constant movement and soulful vocals brought the house down. The crowd wouldn't let him go after the 5th encore so he invited everyone ("especially the pretty young ladies") to his hotel to “party on”, and so they came; Led Zeppelin I had to include them because next to the Doors and of course Jimi Hendrix they were my favorites of that era and I never did get to see either of the other two. The acoustics were bad and they played so loud you couldn’t really hear the music. But they were great none the less and it was special to me. The best should be kept for last. "The Who" was acknowledged as the best concert band at the time. Getting tickets meant getting in line and waiting. I imagine at the time the only tougher ticket would be the “Beatles” and they weren’t even together then. They didn’t disappoint. The reaction of the audience was beyond anything I ever saw at a live concert before or since. The band was so cohesive and the energy they put out put them into a different realm. They just have to be on a very short list of the best live bands ever.
tubegroover
Ok here goes
Emerson, Lake and Palmer with Yes at East town theater Detroit the last concert before condemed.

Blue oyster cult County colloseum El-Paso Tex. around 78

Black Sabbath Blue oyster Cult Royal Oak Music theater 81

Pink Floyd Aubern Hills Colloseum 89

King Crimson John Paul Jones 328 performance Hall Nashville last friday :)
Never got to see Zeppelin, Hendrix, The Who, Doors etc, but I think that of the bands I have seen, The Grateful Dead put on a show like no other band...or maybe it was the audience. If I could go back in time, Bob Marley would have been a good time
Allman Brothers, Pink Floyd ('94), AC-DC, Oingo Boingo, Rush. Would love to see Dire Straits!
1. Pink Floyd "Darkside of the Moon" tour (Quad concert)
2. Jethro Tull's "Thick as a Brick" tour (Ian Anderson was a jumping madman)
3. Jeff Beck Group & Mahavishnu (John McLaughlin/Jan Hammer)John and Jeff jam session encore (incredible)
4. Yes "Close to the Edge" tour
5. Emerson Lake and Palmer (Keith Emerson push his synthesizer off the stage)
Not ready to name my top 5 yet, but both August 2001 Radiohead shows (especially the second) on Liberty Island rate for the sheer power of the performance, the joy of the crowd, and (in retrospect) the poignancy of the moment.

Even that night, going to the concert by ferry from the World Trade Center marina, passing the Statue of Liberty, and arriving at a gorgeous state park to hear (imho) the best rock band out there today was something special.

And with Radiohead leaving the back of the stage open so that it framed a view of lower Manhattan--what else can I say? It was my last "classic" view of our Twin Towers, and it now means so much to me that I was there.